I know I had a weekend around here, but it seems to have slipped away, while I was blinking…

We spent all day Saturday down at the Smithsonian, attending a seminar on “Neighborhood Walks Through London.”  We’re going to London later this year, so the presentation was particularly welcome.  The charming presenter did a great job of highlighting major and minor sites in her home town, relaying history, bits about art and architecture, and generally making me wish that my trip could last for about three months.

Yesterday, I continued the salute to Britain by indulging in afternoon tea with the incomparable Christi Barth.  We had a lovely time at the Park Hyatt (although both of us stuck with rather traditional teas, rather than the $150/cup “there are only three bricks of this tea left in the world” or the nearly as expensive “this tea is harvested only on the third night after the full moon”).  The Park Hyatt provides a buffet of savories and sweets, which allows customers to avoid their least favorites (egg salad, for me…) and to indulge in extras of their favorites (cheddar-scallion-bacon scones and goat-cheese-artichoke crostini for me).  The savories were actually somewhat better than the sweets, which is not my usual experience at tea.

I ended up taking the Metro downtown both weekend days — rare, given the system’s spotty weekend coverage.  Somewhat frustratingly, there was a scheduled break in the line between my station and downtown — they used shuttle buses to bridge the gap.  I walked the difference both directions on Saturday, but I availed myself of the shuttles on Sunday.  The buses are an annoyance, but they run *very* frequently, and the Metro staff are extremely friendly and helpful (and there are *thousands* of staff to guide people, or so it seems.)

Back home for the evening, we power-watched Masterpiece Theatre’s MR SELFRIDGE (although we still have the last double-episode to view) — a not-entirely-successful soapy biopic about that Chicago man who opened the Selfridge department store in London in the early 20th century.  I’m not at all enamored of Jeremy Pivens’ acting choices, and I’m suspicious of a lot of the social rules depicted, but I *am* intrigued by the transition of retail that the show presents.

In between all that, I almost finished reading Lea Nolan’s CONJURE (a fun high-middle-grade, low-YA book, with pirates, curses, and Gullah magic).

And that’s the weekend that was.  How about you?

Often, I’m asked about my favorite books.  I usually answer by saying that The Lord of the Rings has been the most influential book in my life, because it made me want to write a sequel, which led to my first finished novel, which led to my first published novel, which led to my current daily life.

But when I was in middle school, I very well might have answered, “Anything by E.L. Konigsburg”.  Her Jennifer, Hecate, Macbeth, William McKinley, and Me, Elizabeth remains one of my very favorite books — and there’s a touch of Jane Madison lurking amid all those names.  And From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler was probably the first time I fell in love with a museum.  And with Michelangelo.  So, it only made sense that I learned about Leonardo da Vinci from The Second Mrs. Giaconda.  And I actually wanted to be reincarnated as Eleanor of Aquitaine after I read A Proud Taste for Scarlet and Miniver.

Along with books by Zilpha Keatley Snyder and Ruth M. Arthur, the stories of E.L. Konigsburg were some of the very first that sparked my imagination, that taught me about secret worlds where I could explore very far away from the suburban streets of North Dallas.  (And I’m a bit astonished to realize that virtually all of Konigsburg’s books are set in the real world — historic world sometimes, but not in made-up secondary venues.  I’m surprised because those books carried a sense of wonder, a vision of different-ness, that flavors my speculative fiction today.)

E.L. Konigsburg died over the weekend, at the age of 83.  She’ll live on, though, on my bookshelves, and on the shelves of every kid I buy books for in the future.

Off to re-read some favorites…

I read a lot of middle grade and YA novels.  Most of them are entertaining.  Some are good enough to remind me of my love affair with books that carried me through elementary, middle, and high school.  A handful are excellent enough that I tell every single person I meet, “You must read this!”

Stephanie Burgis’s books fall into that latter category.  The three novels are set in Regency England — the time of Jane Austen, handsome rakes, and countless romance novels.  But Burgis’s books are special — unique — because of their heroine — a tween girl who has magical powers.  Kat Stephenson knows all the rules of her hidebound society.  She even chooses to follow a few of them.  But Kat is headstrong, and curious, and fiercely loyal, and she gets into endless trouble in the most entertaining ways imaginable.

I read the first book shortly after it came out.  I gobbled up the last two while I was on vacation.  The third book — STOLEN MAGIC — was just released in the U.S.  You should buy all three and read them.  Now.  Right now.  Today.

(And if you were wavering about such a purchase, maybe this will tip you over the edge:  Stephanie Burgis is another Simon & Schuster author, and the release of STOLEN MAGIC is caught up in the Barnes & Noble fiasco that I wrote about earlier this week.)

Hey!  Do you read romance novels?  Do you live near Arlington, Virginia?

If you answered yes to both those questions, then have I got an event for you!  You can meet fun romance authors, have a chance at winning *tons* of books (yes, including some of mine!), enjoy food and drink, *and* support the Washington Literacy Center!  Here’s all the information:

* * *

Join Washington Loves Romance’s featured authors from 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Feb. 17 at the Arlington Rooftop Bar and Grill for its first Romance Lovers Get Together. All profits generated during the event will go to the Washington Literacy Center.

You’ll enjoy complimentary drinks and appetizers – including a specialty cocktail named by Washington Loves Romance readers – in a fun, casual atmosphere. Prizes, including a huge gift basket stuffed with all kinds of book goodies and a $50 Amazon gift card, will be given away.

Many of Washington Loves Romance’s featured authors are expected to attend the Romance Lovers Get Together. Those featured authors include: Rebecca York, Amanda Brice, Hope Tarr, Meredith Bond, Pamela Palmer, Alexa Egan, Sally MacKenzie, Avery Flynn, Michelle Willingham, Anne Barton, Grace Burrowes, Nicky Penttila, Darlene Gardner, Nancy Naigle, Candice Poarch and Diana Cosby.

Buy your tickets in advance and save $5 per person.
Advance tickets cost $15 and are on sale now.
Tickets at the door will be $20.
Washington Loves Romance is an online book club for the many readers of romance fiction in all its forms with a special focus on the romance authors and readers in the metro Washington, D.C. area.

What:
Romance Lovers Get Together
When: February 17, 2013
Where: Arlington Rooftop Bar and Grill
Time: 2:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Tickets: Buy your advance tickets at https://wrwdc.wufoo.com/forms/romance-loversget-together/
Who: Join Washington Loves Romance at https://www.facebook.com/WashingtonLovesRomance
Questions:  Contact Avery Flynn at avery@averyflynn.com

A few weeks ago, I took three *huge* bags of books to the public library.  I had read some of them.  I had started all of them.  I decided to give each of them a new home, so that other people could discover them (and so that I could actually see the “shelf” of my to-be-read shelf.)

And this past Saturday, I went to work, adding new entries to that shelf.  I attended an event at Hooray for Books, the wonderful independent children’s book store that hosted my launch party for DARKBEAST.  Saturday’s event was built around the theme of “strong heroines in YA novels.”  I have three new treasures to read:

THE CADET OF TILDOR, by Alex Lidell – this looks like a “girl-warrior” book, in the style of Tamora Pierce.

PROPHECY, by Ellen Oh – a fantasy novel built on Korean history, myths, and legends.  I’m very excited to read this book that draws on so many traditions so not-known by me!

BORN WICKED, by Jessica Spotswood – a book about sisters, magic, and kissing, according to the author.  I *loved* the brief section that Jessica read, and I can’t wait to read more!

So, if I’m scarce around here, you’ll know it’s because I’m just digging in to my new stash of books

Mindy, who is also scarce because of her own writing projects, and some household stuff, and some evil cats, and, and, and…

Okay, I know that I’ve been pretty Darkbeast-intense here (and, truth be told, I will be for another couple of weeks, through the end of the book’s first month.  Did I mention that it’s now in stock at Amazon, after some very aggravating delays?  No?  Well, it is — go get your copy today!)

But what I really wanted to write about was my weekend.  My weekend, which was almost entirely Darkbeast-free.  Well, after Friday afternoon, anyway, when I turned in the revisions on Darkbeast Rebellion to my editor!

The “weekend” actually began on Thursday night, when we went to see Invisible Man at Studio Theatre.  This adaptation of Ralph Ellison’s novel is the first that the author’s estate has allowed.  It was a *huge* play — almost three hours long, dozens of characters portrayed by about 10 actors, long, wordy speeches (all taken *directly* from the novel)…  At the first (of two) intermission, Mark compared the play to Eugene O’Neill, and he hit the nail on the head.  That’s exactly what they were going for — family saga and social commentary all wrapped up in meaty language.  The show wasn’t perfect, but it was fascinating — a great launch for the new theater season.

On Friday night, Mark headed off to Nationals Stadium with his best friend to see Bruuuuuuuce.  (Before they left, I cornered the best friend, a judge in the juvenile justice system, to work out some plot points in my next novel…)  While the guys rocked the stadium, I went out to dinner with Tiffany Trent.  We may have closed down the Thai restaurant we found.  We may even have criss-crossed Alexandria about a half-dozen times, getting lost on the way to Tiffany’s hotel.  And we may have had a *lot* of fun, discussing current books we’re writing, future books we want to write, fellow writers, etc.  I had a wonderful, relaxing, hair-down evening!

The rest of the weekend was a flurry of reading (I’m reading books by Jonathan Auxier, Jessica Day George, and Shannon Hale, in preparation for our panel at the Baltimore Book Festival), knitting (I finished the double-knit checked scarf and bought some *gorgeous* Dragonfly Squishy Lace for a shawl), movie watching (THE ICE STORM, which remains as much about broken people as I remember it being), etc.

And now?  It’s Monday.  Time for a whole new work week.  I loved my weekend.  May I have it back?

Mindy, really needing to get to work on that cloning technology!